Sept. 11, 2011 It's never too early to Dream

[tjbaggott]

Here's something to DREAM about! A link to some new Dream photos was posted on the main board this morning, but if you can't figure out the German instructions to set up a fee account to view the photos, you're out of luck. So I've copied some and am posting them here. These are pics from a ship Tour on Dec. 12th......

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

 

[tjbaggott]

Thought I'd share the link to my son's Christmas Concert I filmed this afternoon. Take note of the hat on his head, but please excuse my shaky arem on the zoom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZmz04_iSaI

 

[mlipreston]

Here's something to DREAM about! A link to some new Dream photos was posted on the main board this morning, but if you can't figure out the German instructions to set up a fee account to view the photos, you're out of luck. So I've copied some and am posting them here. These are pics from a ship Tour on Dec. 12th......

Thanks for sharing the pictures with us. They were great!

 

[davidls]

Judy thanks for sharing those photo's of the Dream. I came across that website yesterday - got meself registered - but I never could find the right page that had the photo's. I just figured it was because of my lack of computer knowledge!!! Now I understand that page has been taken down!!! Figured I would never see any of those photo's. That is one GREAT looking ship - huh!!! Thanks again!!!

 

[tjbaggott]

HA! There are now no more CAT 9's for either this 4 night nor the 3 night afterwards. SOoooo, I think maybe I got the last available CAT 9 stateroom yesterday when I had my TA book it for us, and we are back into a B2B now!!! I haven't told DH yet that now Tim and I will be on a 7 night cruise,,,, can't wait to see the eye rolling then!!!! I am SO thrilled! And I can't tell my son about it until mid July!!! Keeping our last cruise a secret for an entire year was SOooo easy, so why isn't THIS ONE that easy? Every time he does something that makes me say, "Tim, I just LOVE you SOOOOOO MUCH!" (which is frequent), or every time he asks "When can we go on a cruise again?" (which is also frequent), I just want to say "TIM? GUESS WHAT?" But can't,.........

 

[davidls]

HA! There are now no more CAT 9's for either this 4 night nor the 3 night afterwards. SOoooo, I think maybe I got the last available CAT 9 stateroom yesterday when I had my TA book it for us, and we are back into a B2B now!!! I haven't told DH yet that now Tim and I will be on a 7 night cruise,,,, can't wait to see the eye rolling then!!!! I am SO thrilled! And I can't tell my son about it until mid July!!! Keeping our last cruise a secret for an entire year was SOooo easy, so why isn't THIS ONE that easy? Every time he does something that makes me say, "Tim, I just LOVE you SOOOOOO MUCH!" (which is frequent), or every time he asks "When can we go on a cruise again?" (which is also frequent), I just want to say "TIM? GUESS WHAT?" But can't,.........

 

[tjbaggott]

DS13 has broken his arm. At school on Wednesday, and I took him to the doctor yesterday, who then sent us to the hospital, and now he has a cast up to his elbow till into the New Year! His RIGHT hand too! (yep he's right handed). Photos this Christmas will be EXTRA memorable!! Now I have to call the school to have them write out an incident report, as this happened at school on Wednesday.

UPDATE: When it rains it pours. My DH left at 3a.m. to head to Thunder Bay to Collect our DS18, to bring him and all his stuff home for Christmas. DS is away at College, but has decided he doesn't like the program he's in. So he just finished the 1st semester, and is quitting and will try a different course next Sept, hopefully at a local College. We had just got our van fixed, and just got it back. DH just called to say the Stupid thing has now broken down. Engine light is on, HUGE sudden gas smell, and a loud warbling sound I could hear over the phone. He's in the middle of no where, has a pay as you go phone and a Rogers cell phone. The rogers one won't work, but amazingly the pay as you go one does, so far up there. He's calling CAA now, but I really don't know how they can help him that far North. UGGGHHHHHH! Will DS be home for Christmas????? Will DH be able to get home from where's he's at? Da DA DUMMMMMMMMM..............

2nd update: CAA TOW has just arrived, the closest garage is 35 KM away in Kirkland Lake, and we are covered for 5km. I located the dad of DD's hospital roomate from years ago when both girls were undergoing cancer treatment. This family lives in Cochrane, 2 hours away from DH. I just heard from another family we had met in hospital, while her son went through Cancer treatment. She HAS FRIENDS AND FAMILY in Kirkland Lake!!!! The Cochrane dad has offered to go fetch my hubby, if he needs a place for the night, and the other mom is calling someone in Kirkland lake to see if they can do the same. Isn't it amazing the ties we make in our lives, and sometimes don't even know it?........... Now it's starting to feel a lot more like Christmas. Hopefully the Canadian Tire there, can show some Christmas Spirit too............

Last update: Canadian Tire fixed it. A spark plug that was still under warranty had blew. Turns out the issue we had with the van previously was THIS issue all along, thus the fuel lines that were replaced by our mechanic earlier this week, was NOT neccessary at all! I'll let DH deal with that though. In the meantime he is now back on the road. Here's the amazing part of all this. Origianlly DH was going to leave after work today, around about now, 5pm and drive through the night. Well, this spark plug was going to blow anyway, but if it were this evening, NO garage would be open, and the Canadian Tire Auto Service is NOT open tomorrow or Sunday. It was only last night that DH decided to call work and say he wouldn't be in today as he'd decided to leave early this morning instead of this evening! WOW. My friend in Cochrane is still going to put him up for the night, feed him, and has also welcomed him to stop there for a night on his way back!

 

[tjbaggott]

DH has DS18 and they are halfway home, or not quite. They are taking a more populted route home, just in case there are any more issues with the van.

On another note, I'm SO dying for Mickey shaped eggs. The kids want eggs for breakfast, and I bought this Mickely shaped iron mold while on board this past fall. You put it in the frying pan and drop the egg inside the mold. But this is supposed to go in DS7's stocking, to make the first mickey eggs Christmas morning! I even got DH a Mickey Spatula/ or egg lifter. The part you scoop up whatever is in the pan is shaped like mickey's hand, and the handle is Mickey's body/outfit in the red white and yellow. Only 6 more mornings till we're there!!

 

[davidls]

DH has DS18 and they are halfway home, or not quite. They are taking a more populted route home, just in case there are any more issues with the van.

On another note, I'm SO dying for Mickey shaped eggs. The kids want eggs for breakfast, and I bought this Mickely shaped iron mold while on board this past fall. You put it in the frying pan and drop the egg inside the mold. But this is supposed to go in DS7's stocking, to make the first mickey eggs Christmas morning! I even got DH a Mickey Spatula/ or egg lifter. The part you scoop up whatever is in the pan is shaped like mickey's hand, and the handle is Mickey's body/outfit in the red white and yellow. Only 6 more mornings till we're there!!

Judy, glad to hear your DH & DS are close to being home. What an ordeal they had to go thru. I sure am glad everything worked out just fine.
That Mickey shaped egg mold you have sounds great!!! I'm going to have to check to see if they have one on the Dream next year.
I'm sooooooooooo excited about Christmas this year. I don't have a clue as to what DW bought me this year. Usually I have an idea...........but nothing this year!!! I'm like a big kid in a candy store..........so excited I can't wait!!! I'll have to sneak up late at night or early Christmas morning and start shaking my presents!!!!
Just want to wish everyone a very safe and a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

[tjbaggott]

Hello everyone! Today starts the final week before Christmas! Is everyone ready? All I've got to do is wrap presents!
DH and DS18 arrived home just in time for dinner yesterday (and I had it ready for them,,,,, THAT'S a first!!) I was shocked when DS first walked in the door, HE HAS GROWN A BEARD!!! That, plus the glasses he now must wear, well, I hardly recognized him! He said he and some friends started Nov. 1st, to let the beards grow until the New Year.

Today I'm making 7 or 8 dozen Ginger Snap Cookies. This is my trademark tradition every Christmas. I have 5 friends coming over on Tuesday for a Cookie Exchange party, so I'll be trading 5 of my dozen ginger snaps for 5 dozen assorted other types of cookies! If I didn't live so far away, David, I'd send you a dozen! Actually, when I first met my DH, he lived far away from me. I shipped him some cookies via overnight Courier. He worked/ and still works for that company. Well, the courier company lost the package!! DH said, "It's the thought that counts". Eventually the package was tracked down, to a wearhouse they had wrongly been delivered to somewhere in Toronto. The package was retreived and eventually delivered to my now DH, but it was a good month later. Stale cookies,,,,,,,,,, he ate them anyway! Now that either says something about my baking skills, or something about how he felt about me way back then.

At dinner last night we were talking about our Christmas traditions. It was very interesting to hear what mattered most to my kids, from my kids. Little things I never thought were tradition but for them, to not have them would make them sad:
-opening one gift every Christmas Eve, (and it always ends up being new P.J's.!)
-Church every Christmas Eve (we missed it one year, and even I felt off for that Christmas, like something was missing)
-A Christmas morning breakfast fit for a King (eggs every style, pancakes, waffels, bacon, sausage, fruit juice and toast)
-A clementine in the toe of each stocking
-a little Polar Bear in ONE stocking each year, and no one knows who's stocking it will turn up in each year
-The kids, collecting the stockings in the morning, and bringing them all up to DH and me in our room, waking us up. Everyone climbs onto our bed and we all open the stockings (wonder if that will happen this year with the 18 & 19 year olds? they did it every year so far since they could walk)
-Family coming over for Christmas dinner with us
and our newest tradition: We have this really long wooden bead necklace that is my DD19's Story of her journy with cancer. It was started in Hospital for these kids. Everybead, represents a specific happening. Red beads represent every poke she had through the 2 1/2 yr treatment, every white bead is each dose of Chemo she had, brown beads are for hair loss, yellow beads are for bad days, rainbow and happy face beads are for a particularly good day or event, and so on. Well each year now, that is our Garland for our Christmas tree. We wrap it around and around the tree, and for me it reminds me of our Wonderful Doctors and nurses who rode that journy with us, and of our community who helped support us, and of Taryn's Disney land and Sea Wish trip (there is a Wish Foundation Bead as well as a Mickey Mouse and DCL bead on it), it reminds me of bad times, but also the good times, and reminds me that out of everything bad comes something good.

[/IMG]


So, what are some of all your Christmas traditions with your families?

 

[davidls]

Hello everyone! Today starts the final week before Christmas! Is everyone ready? All I've got to do is wrap presents!
DH and DS18 arrived home just in time for dinner yesterday (and I had it ready for them,,,,, THAT'S a first!!) I was shocked when DS first walked in the door, HE HAS GROWN A BEARD!!! That, plus the glasses he now must wear, well, I hardly recognized him! He said he and some friends started Nov. 1st, to let the beards grow until the New Year.

Today I'm making 7 or 8 dozen Ginger Snap Cookies. This is my trademark tradition every Christmas. I have 5 friends coming over on Tuesday for a Cookie Exchange party, so I'll be trading 5 of my dozen ginger snaps for 5 dozen assorted other types of cookies! If I didn't live so far away, David, I'd send you a dozen! Actually, when I first met my DH, he lived far away from me. I shipped him some cookies via overnight Courier. He worked/ and still works for that company. Well, the courier company lost the package!! DH said, "It's the thought that counts". Eventually the package was tracked down, to a wearhouse they had wrongly been delivered to somewhere in Toronto. The package was retreived and eventually delivered to my now DH, but it was a good month later. Stale cookies,,,,,,,,,, he ate them anyway! Now that either says something about my baking skills, or something about how he felt about me way back then.

At dinner last night we were talking about our Christmas traditions. It was very interesting to hear what mattered most to my kids, from my kids. Little things I never thought were tradition but for them, to not have them would make them sad:
-opening one gift every Christmas Eve, (and it always ends up being new P.J's.!)
-Church every Christmas Eve (we missed it one year, and even I felt off for that Christmas, like something was missing)
-A Christmas morning breakfast fit for a King (eggs every style, pancakes, waffels, bacon, sausage, fruit juice and toast)
-A clementine in the toe of each stocking
-a little Polar Bear in ONE stocking each year, and no one knows who's stocking it will turn up in each year
-The kids, collecting the stockings in the morning, and bringing them all up to DH and me in our room, waking us up. Everyone climbs onto our bed and we all open the stockings (wonder if that will happen this year with the 18 & 19 year olds? they did it every year so far since they could walk)
-Family coming over for Christmas dinner with us
and our newest tradition: We have this really long wooden bead necklace that is my DD19's Story of her journy with cancer. It was started in Hospital for these kids. Everybead, represents a specific happening. Red beads represent every poke she had through the 2 1/2 yr treatment, every white bead is each dose of Chemo she had, brown beads are for hair loss, yellow beads are for bad days, rainbow and happy face beads are for a particularly good day or event, and so on. Well each year now, that is our Garland for our Christmas tree. We wrap it around and around the tree, and for me it reminds me of our Wonderful Doctors and nurses who rode that journy with us, and of our community who helped support us, and of Taryn's Disney land and Sea Wish trip (there is a Wish Foundation Bead as well as a Mickey Mouse and DCL bead on it), it reminds me of bad times, but also the good times, and reminds me that out of everything bad comes something good.

[/IMG]


So, what are some of all your Christmas traditions with your families?

Wow Judy you and your family have some great and wonderful traditions. The wooden bead necklace is such a great tradition. And, I'm so glad to hear your daughter is doing well.

Our family is doing good if we don't get into some sort of food fight at the table!!! It seems someone says something stupid and the games begin!!! (It may not be all that bad................but sometimes it seems like it is!!!)

Those ginger snap cookies sound good Judy. I'll bet they are delicious!!! Actually yesterday, Sunday, Donna baked some of her Christmas cookies. This is from a recipe she got way back when..........I mean waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when we were first married. She has baked these same two recipies every year since then. I usually help. But yesterday I did all of the Christmas wrapping while she baked. We plan to put the icing on them on Friday the 24th. We both have that day off from work. Then we are going over to our son and daughter-in-law's house Christmas morning. (Thank goodness my 40 year old son won't be jumping in bed with his mom and me Christmas morning!!!) He weighs allot more then I do..............probably would break the bed down!!!!
Well, about time for me to go back to work. Everyone have a great day today!!!

 

[davidls]

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?mmsi=311042900&centerx=7.3601&centery=53.10238&zoom=1

The Dream has set sailed for Florida!!!! Above is a link as to her location now. From what I understand when when she gets out to the open seas we may not be able to track her until she comes close to land somewhere. This is getting exciting guys!!!!

 

[davidls]

I hope everyone has a Great Tuesday today!!!

Has everyone checked out the Disney Cruise Line website? They are now posting short video's about the Dream, hosted by Rachael the cruise Director on board the Dream. You can see some nice shots of the inside of the Dream. From what I understand, Disney will be posting a couple new video's each week on the Dreams sailing across the Atlantic to Florida. Check it out ya'll!!!

 

[DisneyDee27]

Hello Everyone,

I (and my sisters) are very inerested in joining the FE group. The 9/11/11 cruise will be my first Disney cruise. I've never done a FE group but would love too. Who do I contact and what are the guidelines.
Thanks for the info,
DeeDee

 

[DisneyDee27]

Hello All,

Just checking to see if anyone is making a 7 night trip out of this cruise.
I can't wait to see the ship and enjoy meeting crazed Disney fans...Like me.
Thanks,
Dee

 

[Shannon1984]

Hello everyone!!! to all our newbies. Christmas is almost here and I will hopefully start slowing down and planning the wedding and cruise.

I would love to do a FE but I also have no idea whats involved. Let me know as well. I need to find a hotel close to port as well. Anyone have any ideas?

Ohhhh....Goofydad24(Mike) also says hi to everyone He'll hopefully be online soon!!!


Have a great night everyone!!!

 

[mlipreston]

I can step up if noone else is jumping for it, but would love some help keeping track of all who are going to participate, and other stuff if needed.

I'll help you with whatever you need help with. Not a problem. Just let me know.

 

[davidls]

Hello All,

Just checking to see if anyone is making a 7 night trip out of this cruise.
I can't wait to see the ship and enjoy meeting crazed Disney fans...Like me.
Thanks,
Dee

DW and I are doing the B2B - 9/11 & 9/15. We are as excited as two kids in a candy store!!! We haven't cruised for a couple years now and we can't wait to get on board the Dream. While on the Dream we are going to book our next cruise on the Fantasy for the next year!!! We'll probably do the Eastern Cruise on the Fantasy.

Hope ya'll have a great day today. Talk to you again real soon.

 

[tjbaggott]

DEE, we are doing the same B2B! First we all were, then I cancelled and booked the 2012 Fantasy instead. Then I booked just DS7 and myself back onto this 4 night portion (just couldn't NOT experience the Dream) and recently I booked DS7 and me back onto the 3 night after this 4 night. Indecisions, I'm famous for those, or at least changing my mind often before settling on something. But hey, that a women's perogative, right? So this will be a special "MOMMY AND ME" trip for my littlest guy. He'll find out about it for his birthday in July. Our Fantasy Cruise though, the whole family is finding out about it this Christmas!

 

[drummerwife]

Count us in as well! This is a surprise Christmas present for our DS11. We just booked the second half a few weeks ago, and now I'm booking a mommy and me cruise for the official second sailing of the Dream (Jan 30). I just can't seem to stop myself
Hope everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas!